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Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Meet The World's Best Insurance Companies 2025
AXA insurance offices in Suffolk, England. In 2025, global insured losses driven by catastrophic weather events could reach $145 billion, up from $137 billion in 2024, according to research from the Swiss Re Institute. Already this year, the California wildfires that erupted in January have caused an estimated $40 billion in insured losses in the United States. As a result, insurance companies—aiming to protect their clients while minimizing costs—have been hedging their bets. 'Insurers are under pressure from multiple fronts: they must innovate, operate more efficiently, and accelerate speed to market, all while managing rising claim severity driven by inflation and climate-related events,' says Jeff Gill, Americas insurance sector leader at accounting and consulting firm EY. 'At the same time, they face growing regulatory demands and increasing pressure from customers for more affordable coverage.' What then, can consumers reasonably expect from an insurer? Alain Zweibrucker, CEO of AXA Retail, says that AXA UK works to provide clients with 'peace of mind, flexibility and choice,' along with intuitive and seamless 'digital journeys to match those of tech giants like Amazon and Apple.' And based on Forbes' rankings of the World's Best Insurance Companies 2025 (which includes three lists, each covering a distinct category of insurance: homeowners, auto and life), AXA UK seems to be delivering on these efforts. The insurer ranked No. 7 in the United Kingdom on Forbes' list of the best homeowners insurance companies, and No. 4 in the U.K. on the auto insurance list. What's more, the insurance company earned rankings in a total of eight countries, including in India where Bharta AXA earned No. 1 in life insurance. To create this third ranking of the World's Best Insurance Companies, Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista, which surveyed more than 45,000 people across 15 countries in early 2025. Respondents were required to have held at least one insurance policy for their home, car or life within the last three years. They were then asked a series of questions about how satisfied they were with their insurer and if they would recommend it to others. Participants were also asked to rate their insurer based on criteria including the advice employees offered, customer service, price performance, transparency and claims service. Ultimately, the responses were analyzed and scored, and 304 insurance companies with the highest scores landed on one or more of our final lists—130 companies on the homeowners insurance list, 155 on the auto insurance list and 150 on the life insurance list. This year, Allianz also had a strong showing around the world, ranking in 10 countries, including Germany, where it placed in all three categories (No. 6 in homeowners insurance, No. 15 in auto, and No. 6 in life). One likely reason Allianz was rated highly: the insurer is tackling climate disasters head on. 'We are providing an AI-based severe weather warning system that predicts the exact location, timing, and impact of extreme weather events for a very specific location,' says Daphne Boecker, CEO of Germany's Allianz Customer and Market. Through this tool, the company sends an average of 10 to 12 warnings to each German customer every year, giving them the chance to take action to protect their homes, cars and other belongings before a weather disaster happens. Daphne Boecker, CEO of Germany's Allianz Customer and Market If, however, a loss can't be avoided, Allianz proactively does damage control. During the heavy rain and flooding that impacted large parts of Southern Germany in 2024, Allianz sent specialized claims task forces to affected areas to provide on-the-ground support and dispatched thousands of drying devices to aid recovery efforts, says Boecker. Additionally, the 'dedicated Allianz Craftsmen Service was activated, ensuring that policyholders could quickly and easily access professional craftsmen, even amidst the high demand following the disaster,' she says. MAPFRE España (which earned No. 1 in homeowners insurance, No. 2 in auto, and No. 4 in life within Spain), prides itself on its dedication to its clients. The insurer prioritizes long-term customer relationships over seeking the highest sales volume, says a company spokesperson. To that end, MAPFRE (which also ranked No. 5 in homeowners and No. 6 in auto in Brazil) focuses on providing quality products and excellent customer service. 'It's about optimizing the company's responsiveness, strengthening the digitalization of processes and increasing efficiency, but above all, improving the customer experience,' says the spokesperson. Similarly, Allianz's Boecker says, 'we recognize that personal contact remains vital for our customers, even in a digital age.' That's why the insurance company's strategy is to provide easy access to services online while customers also have the option to connect with a representative whenever they choose. After all, many people's interactions with their insurance company come on the heels of a tragic event. This means that no matter how efficient, AI-driven and user-friendly a company's online offerings may be, what people often need most from their insurer in the aftermath of a loss is empathy, clarity and understanding, which at this point, only humans have mastered. For the full list of the World's Best Homeowners Insurance Companies, click here. For the full list of the World's Best Auto Insurance Companies, click here. For the full list of the World's Best Life Insurance Companies, click here. To create the 2025 edition of the World's Best Insurance Companies, Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista, which surveyed more than 45,000 people across 15 countries in early 2025. Respondents were required to have held at least one insurance policy for their home, car or life within the last three years. They were then asked a series of questions about how satisfied they were with their insurer and if they would recommend it to others. Participants were also asked to rate their insurer based on criteria including the advice employees offered, customer service, price performance, transparency and claims service. Ultimately, the responses were analyzed and scored, and 304 insurance companies with the highest scores landed on one or more of our final lists—130 companies on the homeowners insurance list, 155 on the auto insurance list and 150 on the life insurance list. As with all Forbes lists, companies pay no fee to participate or be selected. To read more about how we make these lists, click here. For questions about this list, please email listdesk [at] Forbes/Statista
USA Today
31-01-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Faith Works: Have mercy: Worship doesn't always have to be 'exciting,' nor should it be
COLUMNISTS Jeff Gill Guest columnist An online etymology dictionary says of 'Mercy (n.): (the origin of the word dates to the) late 12th century, 'God's forgiveness of his creatures' offenses,' from Old French 'mercit, merci' (9th century) 'reward, gift; kindness, grace, pity,' … in Vulgar Latin 'favor, pity;' … in Church Latin (6th century) it was given a specific application to the heavenly reward earned by those who show kindness to the helpless and those from whom no requital can be expected.' There's been an ongoing reaction to a preacher asking a president to have mercy. Yet she did ask, and there was little if any specific insistence on what that mercy would be. To ask for mercy of a sovereign is a request that still acknowledges their power but asks of them a use that might not be the full exercise of what they could do. What they should do is still up to them. Nothing rude or overbearing about that. Just a simple plea from the pulpit: Have mercy. Faith Works:Despite the marks bad news can leave, goodness endures Where I specifically don't agree with President Donald Trump's reaction is in his initial retort to a reporter asking him about the service. His reply on the West Wing colonnade was, "Not very exciting. Did you think it was exciting?" Of course there was more pointed criticism later on social media, calling the bishop "nasty" (his go-to insult for women in any role, it seems), but he went on to reassert, '...the service was a very boring and uninspiring one.' So, I'd like to focus on his initial response: "Not very exciting." This is a challenge many clergy face, and when leaders press the 'make it exciting" button in such a public setting, it's going to trigger a surge of similar criticisms for local ministers, well beyond any policy-oriented preaching or political overtones. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Worship is not always exciting. Or as Rick Warren said in his best-selling 'The Purpose Driven Life': "It's not about you." There's a question of spiritual formation here around what people have been taught to expect of an occasion for spiritual assembly. If "Is it exciting?" becomes the primary measure of a quality service, then exciting worship becomes the expected norm. And I can hear the objections already: Why shouldn't it be exciting? Why can't each service be exciting, moving, uplifting and transforming? Isn't that what you preachers and worship leaders are supposed to be crafting and delivering — a compelling service of sermon and song and excitement? Routine and ritual and regular rhythms of the Christian year, quiet devotion and corporate thanksgiving — all that might be set aside in the pursuit of excitement. Psalmody, unison prayer, even silence might all get tossed onto the ash-heap of history in favor of jarring percussion, driving chords, startling graphics and, yes, fog machines. When I'm preaching, my walk-up song isn't "Crazy Train," it's more likely to be "Surely the Presence," or even the "Gloria Patri." I think good worship even includes sometimes choosing the live musician that isn't so good versus the recorded track that slaps. Faith Works:Limits of understanding and extensions of faith I know, many of my clerical friends are concerned about other aspects of the aftermath of that "Service of Prayer for the Nation." But I'm haunted in parallel with that reflexive, "Not very exciting." It's a tendency that doesn't need encouragement. Quite the opposite. Let William Shakespeare have the last word, from Portia's speech in 'The Merchant of Venice': "The quality of mercy is not strained/ It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven/ Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:/ It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. "'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes/ The throned monarch better than his crown..." Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller and preacher in central Ohio; he's preached a few unexciting sermons in his time. Tell him where you think mercy could be a gentle rain at knapsack77@ or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads or Bluesky.
